TRENTON, NJ – A group of Republican lawmakers has introduced legislation that would compel New Jersey police, correctional facilities, and courts to cooperate directly with federal immigration authorities when handling cases involving individuals in the country unlawfully.
The bill, sponsored by Senators Douglas J. Steinhardt (R–Hunterdon/Somerset/Warren) and Carmen F. Amato Jr. (R–Ocean), with co-sponsorship from Senators Jim Holzapfel, Parker Space, and Michael Tiver, would require law enforcement agencies and sentencing courts to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within 24 hours whenever a noncitizen suspected of being unlawfully present is arrested or convicted of certain crimes or offenses.
Under the proposal, arrests or convictions involving crimes of the first through fourth degree, as well as disorderly or petty disorderly offenses linked to drug activity, theft, or robbery, would trigger mandatory reporting to federal immigration officials “for the purpose of initiating deportation proceedings.”
Courts would also be required to contact federal authorities immediately upon conviction of an undocumented individual. Correctional facilities holding convicted noncitizens would need to notify ICE, and probation or parole officers supervising such individuals would be obligated to do the same.
The measure defines “federal immigration authority” broadly, covering officers, employees, and agents of ICE, Customs and Border Protection, or the Department of Homeland Security involved in immigration enforcement.
The legislation marks a sharp policy contrast to New Jersey’s “Immigrant Trust Directive,” enacted under the Murphy administration, which limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement to encourage community trust and crime reporting. Supporters of the new bill argue it would restore law enforcement’s ability to help remove individuals who commit crimes while living in the state unlawfully, while critics are expected to view it as undermining immigrant protections and due process.
The bill would take effect immediately upon enactment.
